Brits abroad are the friendliest and most generous but…

British holidaymakers are by far the friendliest in the world, according to hotel staff working in Europe’s top locations.

More than a third of staff put Britons at the top of a survey carried out by OTA On the Beach.

The Irish came in second place with 27% of the vote, followed by the Swedes with 10%.

So who are the least genial? Zut alors, it’s the French and Americans, according to the survey.

Britons are also the most likely tippers, according to 27% of the 1,000 nternational hotel staff quizzed, while Germans and Americans took joint second place with 19% of the votes, followed by the Irish with 13% and Norwegians with 8%.

The French are the least generous along with the Danes, Fins and Italians, according to the survey.

The survey also revealed that, contrary to popular belief, British holidaymakers do try to speak the local language whilst on holiday. More than one in five hotel staff (22%), named Brits – out of all nations – as the guests who make the most effort to embrace the local lingo.

According to resort workers, only holidaymakers from Germany make more of an effort (23%), whilst those from Ireland (8%), Italy (6%) and France (5%) don’t bother trying to speak the local language.

Whilst British holidaymakers are considered the friendliest and most generous, it’s not all good news. According to hotel staff, British kids are the unruliest, with only 4% of staff naming them the best behaved.

Children from Germany were named the most well-behaved, with 37% of the vote. According to the survey, kids from many other parts of the world are also better behaved than their British counterparts, with little ones from Sweden (26%) and Norway (9%), grabbing second and third places respectively.

Boozy Brits were also named the biggest holiday drinkers, gaining a whopping 64% of the vote, well ahead of the Irish, who came in second place with 17%.

Whilst Germany is considered one of the beer capitals of the world, the survey revealed that during their holiday, Germans tend not to hit the bars as much as their British counterparts, with only 6% of hotel staff naming them the biggest drinkers.

Fun-loving Brits were also named the greediest guests, with 22% of staff saying British holidaymakers eat more during their stay than any other nation, just ahead of Spanish guests who came in with 18% of the votes.

Brits abroad were also named the noisiest guests (44%), ahead of Spanish customers (33%), and the messiest holidaymakers, least likely to maintain a tidy hotel room. German holidaymakers were considered the cleanest guests (42%), followed by those from Sweden (18%) and Norway (8%).

Despite lagging behind in some categories, British holidaymakers came out on top to be crowned hotel staff’s overall favourite holiday guests, taking a third of the vote (33%), ahead of Germans (17%), Irish (13%) and Swedes (8%).

On the Beach marketing director Alan Harding said: "Whilst we Brits enjoy letting our hair down during our well-earned holidays, we are incredibly popular guests amongst international hotel staff.

"We’re a fun-loving, friendly and generous bunch, and it’s heartening to see that Britons make such a positive impression on our travels abroad."